Guest columnist Miranda Straubel, a 4th grader, writes today about benchmark tests used in the public schools to evaluate student progress. Like most of the tests associated with the "No Child Left Behind Act" and the newer "Race to the Top" funds, these often generate more problems than the tests are worth.
"We should make our goals." That is what my teacher says all day long. Our goals are to get 3 or 4 more correct answers than the previous benchmark. We should underline important words and numbers, show our work, and check our answers. So on, so forth.
This is very important. If we make our goals, we get entered into a drawing to win a laptop. Nice, right? Well, actually, not really. See, I scored 41 our of 45 on the last benchmark for reading. As my dad says, "You can practically only go down from there." We also get 15 minutes of extra recess if we make our goals. Not very fair, I would say.
How about you? Please comment with your opinion below.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Do only the students who make their goals get the extra 15 minutes? If so: yikes! I know we all need to work hard and do our best, but it seems that system would set up some unfortunate competition. Not to mention that people who are already scoring high (like you; congratulations!) will only be able to make their goal once or twice more before maxing out. I think your mom's right; the goals may not be worth it. Thanks for sharing your point of view, Miranda!
ReplyDeleteOnly people who make their goals get extra recess.
ReplyDelete